I can’t believe we only have ten weeks to go!

I don’t think Kody knows what is happening. 🙂 And I never really notice how much my lower back is arching now until I see pictures – no wonder it’s sore at the end of the day!

Baby stats this week – Our little man weighs a little over three pounds and he’s around 17 inches long. He can hear and see and he’s working on his breathing. This week, the folds and wrinkles of his brain are forming – SO amazing!! I can’t wait to see what color eyes he has and what color hair – if he has any – he has. We’ve been talking about things like labor and what outfit we want to bring him home in. God has just been so good!

I talk to our little guy a lot, because apparently, he can hear quite well at this point. I’ve been letting him know that he could come in seven weeks and that would be just fine. I tell him how great it is out here and how much he doesn’t want to weigh like a Hulk baby like his daddy did (Jon = 10 pounds, 10 ounces when he was born. My poor mother-in-law. Pity me, people).

So far, this has been a really easy pregnancy! I’ve been having trouble sleeping at night and so I get awfully tired during the day, but really, that’s nothing compared to what other women have had to deal with. You moms out there – did you guys have issues with the ligaments hurting around your uterus? And what did you do to help with that? I think my body has decided it’s not stretching anymore without lots of complaints. 😉

We have such a weird dog – these are the curtains over our back sliding door and he loves to lay under them. Jon got this picture on Sunday morning before church. I thought he looked like he was going to join the dog nunnery.

We went over to my parents’ house on Saturday for a little while. We were standing in the kitchen talking to my mom and dad and my brother, Caleb, came upstairs then holding this:

Isn’t she adorable?? It completely shocked me!! He got her Saturday morning. She’s an English mastiff (I know!!) and her name is Joey. She is just too cute – I love watching puppies! She’s so clumsy and has the sweetest little ears! Caleb is completely in love with her. I think Kody is going to love having a cousin dog to play with (though, when she’s full-grown, Joey will probably be able to toss Kody in the air).

She seems like SUCH a sweet dog! And look at that face – so sad, I just love her.

Last night, Jon and I went on a date to one of our favorite places, Scarpas (best dessert EVER is there) and then came home and watched Love Happens. And single ladies out there – be sure to find a guy who doesn’t mind watching chick-flicks with you when you are looking to get married. Jon is SO great about that! Much better than I am at watching some of his movies (I’m the biggest jumper ever in movies – so I really don’t like watching movies that will scare the daylights out of me!).

Anyway, the movie last night was cute! Aside from some language, there was absolutely nothing in it – no bedroom scenes, no scantily dressed women. I hate how it seems like every chick-flick out there now thinks it needs a few of those in there. Fast-forwarding through movies is just not so fun. So, I was very pleasantly surprised last night!

What did you do this last weekend?

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Yesterday, Jon came home with this sweet surprise:

When I asked him what the occasion was, he said, “It’s Tuesday.” 🙂 Have I mentioned lately how much I love that guy? I love when he surprises me with things like that!

And today, we had another surprise! The teachers who work with Jon threw us a surprise baby shower (it wasn’t a surprise to me because they had to get me there! So, I knew yesterday morning). It was so fun! Jon was very surprised and all of his coworkers were just so sweet. The tables were all decorated with blue and baby things. They all signed this adorable card for us and gave us such a generous check! I think we’ll be putting that toward diapers. 🙂 Thank you so much everyone there! 🙂

I meant to bring my camera, but they way my memory is going these days, I’m just glad I got there with my teeth brushed and my shoes on.

Which is a good segue into talking about my apparent inability to email anyone back these days. I promise that if you’ve sent me an email in the last few weeks that I have read it and I will write you back soon!! I need to just set aside a day to do emailing, but I’m afraid that might not be until after this deadline is over. I’m sorry!!! I promise I will write you soon!!!

We had some new neighbors move in next door this week and today I took a pan of marble squares (best brownie EVER) over for them and found out that they are Christians as well! Yay! And they have a three-year-old boy and another boy who is probably around six months or so (I never caught how old he was). So great! I know I’m just going to love having them next door – especially once our guy is born. I love that he’s going to have neighborhood friends! They seem like such sweet people.

Tonight, Jon and I are going to have a date at Fuddrucker’s for some hamburgers. Fuddrucker’s is sponsoring an event to benefit one of the daughters of a friend of ours who is struggling with cancer. Please be praying for their family! I think it’s awesome that Fuddrucker’s is doing this for them! Is there a better way to raise money than by offering a milkshake? I think not! It’s pretty sweet! 🙂

And now that I’ve used the word sweet about forty times in this post, I’m going to sign off. I DO NOT want to work out today, but I’m going to at least do some stretches and maybe some short exercises with the resistance band. I’ve noticed that days when I move around a little bit seem to help my back from hurting so much at night. So, time to do that so we can actually eat dinner at a halfway decent hour. 🙂

I hope you are having a fabulous Wednesday! Any fun plans for later this week?

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Last night, Jon and I were over at my parents’ house and my sister was watching Ratatouille. I have very fond feelings toward this movie, which is surprising considering it’s a movie about a rat (and if you know me, you know my intense hatred toward all things rodential in nature). And not only a rat, but a rat who is messing around in a restaurant’s kitchen.

But, back in the old dating days, Jon and I went to go see Ratatouille and then went to an Italian restaurant because you cannot watch Ratatouille without eating during or shortly after the movie. It was very romantic. Except for the little kid sitting behind us in the theater who continually asked his parents what was happening in the movie.

Can you imagine if someone other than Pixar had made Ratatouille and how different it could have been? Like, what if that creepy guy who made Signs decided to take on Ratatouille? I probably wouldn’t be as inclined to eat after watching that remake.

All that to say that I’m going to attempt to make ratatouille tonight for dinner. Only I’m adding kielbasa sausage because What To Expect said I need to be getting a good amount of protein right now and Rachael Ray seems to think that kielbasa sausage is the next best thing after EVOO.

I’ve never made ratatouille and to be honest, I didn’t even really know how to spell it until I started writing this horrifically long, pointless blog about it.

Jon is super stoked about tonight because tonight is the first night of softball season. And I was pretty excited about tonight until all of the guys who married my friends and would bring them to games with them joined another team. And the wind is gusting around 20 mph tonight. So, now I will probably sit alone in the bleachers, trying to avoid the allergens in the air while simultaneously hanging on to Kody’s leash and consistently saying, “NO” while he tries to eat a bunch of sunflower seed leftovers.

Which have to be the next grossest thing after cigarette butts and gum on the ground. Pretty much anything that at some point was in someone’s mouth and it now on the ground is just nasty. Especially after last year, when I watched a little kid who belonged to the team we were playing build a nice little leaning shack out of cigarette butts with a pretty garden of sunflower seed shells. All of which he found in the dirt around him.

Yuck.

But I do like to go and cheer for Jon. And my two brothers and my dad are on his team as well, so I cheer for them too. My mom might be there tonight, so hopefully I’ll get to talk with her!

Well. I’m off to check on dinner. Hope you guys are having a good night!

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Did I mention he likes sit all in the front? 🙂 And you also get a nice shot of Kody’s tail as well. 🙂

So far, the pregnancy is going great! I’ve been feeling good, a little more tired lately, but that’s probably because sleeping all the way through the night has become a thing of the past. I wake up to go to the bathroom and then I’ll wake up for no reason at all – I just can’t go back to sleep.

At my appointment last week, I’d gained a total of 19 pounds (oy!). I feel like it’s all right there in the front! I’ve decided he likes sitting in my lap since I carry him so low. 🙂

The best part of my day is feeling him move around in there! I just love it! He’s always super active in the mornings – probably thanks to the huge glass of chocolate milk I’ve been drinking every day. 🙂 This morning, he was moving from side to side. Such an amazing, awe-inspiring and completely weird thing to watch!

We got his mobile and the valance for his room yesterday. 🙂 They are so cute! We’re supposed to get the dresser next week. I have a few ideas for decorating the room. Once everything is set up, I’ll be sure to post some pictures! 🙂

Hope you are having a great day!

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So, I realize it’s been a week without me posting but honestly, I’ve been having trouble coming up with things to write about on here!

For the majority of last week, I sat at home working on my current deadline. Which isn’t so interesting to anyone else. “What did you do today, Erynn?” “I sat in my chair and stared at a computer screen.”

Very interesting.

I did have a doctor’s appointment on Wednesday. The last of my four-week appointments! Now, I’ve graduated down to going every three weeks. Doctor said everything looked great, I’d gained four pounds (all of which seems to sit right out in front), passed my glucose test just fine and I called and scheduled birthing classes. Because of the way the class schedules meshed with ours, it looks like we’re going to be doing a very long weekend class about two weeks before the due date. 🙂 I guess if he’s early, we’ll figure it out ourselves!

This pregnancy is going by SO FAST now!!

I’m so glad I know so many wonderful moms (and have several fabulous moms reading this blog!) who can help me with all my questions right now! I was texting with Jen most of the morning one day this week, doing research on what I should register for and what I shouldn’t. Mom went with me to my appointment on Wednesday, so we walked around Target for a little bit afterward, trying to see what I thought I needed or not. So helpful!! 🙂

Then Jon and I went and registered on Saturday. It was fun! Overwhelming, but fun! We registered at two places and I know I did duplicates of several things, so I need to go edit those online today.

Afterward, we went to my friend Elisa’s house and had dinner with her, her boyfriend and another couple from church we hadn’t met before, Thomas and Erin. Erin is 17 weeks pregnant! It’s always fun to compare notes with other preggos. 🙂 She, though, is not showing AT ALL and I’m very certain I was already in maternity pants by that point. Our baby definitely sits low and all in front! She’s probably a lot like my cousin who also carries pretty far back – lucky girls are going to look six months pregnant when they are delivering. Not I! 🙂

Sunday morning, Jon and I helped out in the nursery and oh wow… We were both exhausted when we finished! There were nine babies in there and we had another couple helping with us. Still, it was like a constant race to make sure no one was crying, no one was hitting anyone else, no one was falling over. I am SO thankful we’re only having one!! 🙂

Did anyone else out there suffer from “pregnancy brain”? I feel like the bigger I get, the more of my short term memory brain cells die off. I can’t remember anything! I’ve forgotten several phone calls I needed to make, emails I needed to send… the list is continuing to grow. Ugh. Are there any methods you guys used to keep remembering things?

I know I’m due for a picture on here, but I forgot (SEE??) to take one this weekend. I’ll take one tonight and post it up here!

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I was actually wondering how many people would catch on to the same style girls trip happening in the Lauren Holbrook series! 🙂 Ha! This wasn’t our first trip to Phoenix – when I was in high school, my dad and brothers (and sometimes my sister) would all go to the Spring Training baseball games and Mom, Cayce (when she wasn’t at the games) and I would all go shopping, eat at Paradise Bakery and then meet up with the boys for the Cheesecake Factory.

I’ve always had SO much fun in Phoenix!

Yesterday, I had to do my glucose test. Basically, you have to go drink this huge bottle of stuff that tastes like a flat orange soda only sugarier, wait there an hour and then get your blood drawn. It’s to check and see if you have gestational diabetes.

I think we all know how I feel about needles at this point. So, I got to the lab yesterday, sat in the waiting room and in the back I can hear this:

“No….No….NO NO NO!!! AUGH!!!” This was followed by extremely loud screaming and crying.

It sounded very similar to that scene in Gone With the Wind where they are amputating the guy’s leg without any pain medication except for the whole creepy shadow thing going on.

So, I sat there, clutching my magazine that I’d brought and tried to not listen to the torturing going on in the back room. It ended up being a little kid that I don’t think had ever had his blood drawn before, but goodness. He came out all teary-eyed and red-faced and his poor mom was just frazzled.

I kind of felt like I was beholding my future if this baby inherits my ickiness for needles.

Last night, Jon and I ordered the dresser/changing table for our little guy’s room! I am so excited for it to get here! We already have the crib, so I think once we get the dresser, we’ll be set as far as furniture in his bedroom goes.

I woke up this morning to some fun news – Miss Match was downloaded over 25,000 times during the free Kindle week! WOW. That is so incredible! I’m just praying that each of those people will be drawn closer to God through reading it. So amazing!

I hope you guys are having a great Tuesday! Any big plans for you coming up this week? And moms out there – what is the one baby registry item you couldn’t live without? 🙂

Have a fantastic day!

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This last week, my mom, sister and I headed to Phoenix for a fabulous girls trip!

We ate at Paradise Bakery and the Cheesecake Factory…

It was amazing! Need I say more? 🙂

We went shopping, we hung out and talked and laughed and I had the best time! The highlight of the trip?

Michael Buble!! And in a very sad event, the concert staff wouldn’t let me take my camera into the concert, so I didn’t get any pictures of us inside. We had awesome seats though and Michael Buble is a great performer.

I think we all had a fantastic time and there was even talk of making these trips an annual thing. Yay! I love getting to spend time with Mom and Cayce!

I turned 27 weeks out there and I’m now in my third trimester! Time is FLYING by! I can’t believe how quickly – 13 weeks to go until we get to hold this little boy! I seriously cannot wait for that day! Though, I must confess, I think I’ll miss feeling him kick all day. It’s such an incredible feeling!

I hope you all had a wonderful week! Enjoy your weekend!

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First, I warned you all about the onslaught of pictures coming today! 🙂

Second, we had a few changes to our original Easter weekend plan. Saturday morning, my dad got sick with a horrific stomach bug (poor Dad!), and so since he was the one who was going to baptize my brother, Caleb, we decided it would have to be postponed. So, for the first time since I can remember, we stayed home from church on Easter Sunday.

But, it ended up being just fine. Our friends from Colorado Springs – Walt and Barb Kelly, their son-in-law and daughter, Greg and Jen Fulkerson and other daughter-in-law Becca Kelly (her husband, Brian, had to work and couldn’t come this weekend) – came in on Friday and we all just hung out and relaxed this weekend. We FINALLY got to meet Jen and Greg’s adorable son, Noah, who turned three months old yesterday.

He is so adorable! It was so fun to hold him and play with him and watch him because I kept thinking, “This is what it’s going to be like in a few short months!” Plus, I loved seeing him do his little froggy-style kicks, because I swear I feel those same kicks on a daily basis from our son. 🙂

I think you can tell who stole all the attention this weekend! What can we say? He was just so cute! 🙂

They were so sweet and surprised me and Jon with an Easter basket for our baby! It was stuffed with so many fabulous things!! 🙂 I love the froggy pajamas they got him!

This is my mom and one of her best friends, Barb. Really, the Kellys and Fulkersons are more like family than friends!

The pretty mama and her beautiful son!

On Saturday night, Jen, Greg, Jon and me all went out after dinner and after Noah had been put down for some coffee and some much needed Q&A time about life with a newborn. Jon and I felt SO much more prepared after talking with them! It’s so overwhelming to think about how life is going to change, but talking to parents who have just done it makes it seem much less scary.

This is me and Jen only a few short months ago! She was 7 months pregnant with Noah and I had just found out I was pregnant. SO crazy that I’m 6 1/2 months now and Noah is 3 months old! We had to take an updated picture:

Ha! 🙂 I love this!

Here is everyone and yes, I see the rabbit ears Caleb is holding behind Jon’s head. There’s one in every group. 🙂

So, that was my Easter weekend! We talked, ate, shopped and laughed – and I just loved it! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend as well – what did you do?

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YAY!!

I’m SO excited about Cool Beans releasing today!!! 🙂 SO FUN!

I’m celebrating with a glass of chocolate milk right now. 🙂

Today, I actually got almost everything that I had planned done! It’s becoming a very rare occasion, so I’m rather proud of myself. Granted, it wasn’t that much that I had planned, but its the little things in life. 🙂 I did the laundry, got some writing stuff…um, written, went to the bank and the post office and then watched Persuasion with my sister this afternoon. And because of that, I’m going to make pancakes and bacon for dinner.

I’m not sure what pancakes and bacon have to do with either Cool Beans’ release or Persuasion, but it just seems like the right meal to have tonight. Besides, I have blueberries to put on top, so I do believe I’m making the right culinary decision.

And this is just a side note, but am I the only one who has specific clothing items that only see the light of day on Laundry Day? Just curious…

Has anyone else seen Persuasion? The new one by the BBC? I thought it was a fairly decent adaption and for once, Captain Wentworth isn’t kind of…what’s the word…icky? I’m not sure what it is about Jane Austen adaptions, but there are a rare few that actually have nice-looking men in the lead roles.

I’m just saying.

For all of my friends out there with Kindles or iPhones, good news! Miss Match is being offered for FREE today through April 7th! So be sure to take advantage of this great offer! When I checked a couple of minutes ago, it was in the top three downloaded books for today! Yay!

I hope you all have had a tame April Fools Day! I say this because I’m not really too fond of April Fools Day pranks and that’s thanks to growing up with two brothers. 🙂 And I hope that you have a wonderful Easter weekend!

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